Nak & Mack & Hluang Pau Toh

By Willy Thorn

A short play [11 scenes] derived from a classic piece of Thai lore. An injured Siamese soldier happily returns from the eastern war front; dreaming only of domestic bliss with his wife & child. But what he finds back in his teak home on the banks of the Phra Khanong River is like something from his nightmares.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Willy Thorn
• Release date: Feb 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005087579

Willy Thorn

Willy Thorn is a communications expert & artistic renaissance man. He is a journalist & copywriter, teacher, author & artist.He has lived many places, beginning with Milwaukee & Rome & Minnesota & central Wisconsin. Among his other homes are Washington DC & Baltimore, Chicago & the Twin Cities, St. Francis South Dakota, the Bay Area & Shanghai. He currently lives & works in Bangkok.Thorn has a Masters Degree in Journalism & has spent time as a Capitol Hill reporter & wire editor, sports writer, political columnist & arts critic. Other media endeavors include public relations campaigns, magazine feature writing, ghostwritten biographies & time on the radio – as a DJ & on-air host, play-by-play sports announcer & music promoter.He has spent nearly a decade as a language specialist for Craft Worldwide & as a copywriter & creative for McCann Worldgroup. He currently works as senior copywriter at Quo Global branding agency in Bangkok.He has won awards at Cannes Lions & been recognized for sports writing & political columns, magazine features, theatre scripts, religious publications & photography.Thorn is also a photographer & classical oil painter, trained thru the Corcoran Gallery in Washington DC. His artistic c.v. includes photography gallery shows; sculpting in Mamallapuram, India; concrete statuary at Wat Xieng Mouane, in Luang Prabang, Laos; and flower petal mosaics in Cagli, Italy.He is a Buddhist meditation instructor; trained thru Thailand’s renowned Willpower Institute. And he was even the rare foreigner to complete the entire six month course in spoken & written Thai. He currently sits as an advisor on the institute’s English Foreign Language subcommittee – where he translates books, helps develop outreach programs & occasionally lectures.He is the author of more than 3o full-length books & plays & proudly notes a Master’s Degree from Marquette University & books in both Washington's Library of Congress & the Vatican Archives in Rome.His catalog is varied & he has written extensively about a number of subjects — including sports, politics, religion, Buddhist philosophy & Asian history & art. One of his largest endeavors was documenting & cataloguing several hundred temples in Bangkok, Ayutthaya, Yangon, Vientiane & Kuala Lumpur.His catalog is available thru the following distributors: Amazon // Apple iBooks // Android Aldiko // Barnes & Noble // Sony // & Smashwords.His Milwaukee-centric column of sports poetry & prose — 'Run of tha Mil' — can be found at Milticket.blogspot.com

Book preview

Nak & Mack

& Hluang Pau Toh

by Willy Thorn

© MMXXII Feb. 17

Feast of Edgar Ramos

ISBN: 9781005087579

Should God create another Eve

& I another rib afford

yet loss of thee

would never from my heart

I feel the link of nature draw me

Flesh of Flesh

Bone of my Bone thou art

And from thy state, bliss or woe

mine shall never part

— John Milton

‘Paradise Lost’

the Table of Contents

the Setting

the Characters

the Scenes

*.} Mae Nak & Mack

*.} on Devotion

*.} Mack’s Best Friend

*.} on Motherly Devotion

*.} Tragedy

*.} Strange Things

*.} Isolation

*.} the Last Neighbor

*.} Escape

*.} Wat Mahabut

*.} Hluang Pau Toh & Nak

the End

*.} About the Playwright

[the Setting]: mid-18oos Bangkok

A lushly forested area along the Phra Khanong River

— now just south of Bangkok’s downtown.

Bangkok is then the Venice of the East

because the city is entirely canals.

It will be at least 5o years before the first roads

are built for horse carriages.

Most buildings are set on the banks of rivers & canals

— along both sides, running the length

in the same way which shops, businesses & homes

are set on streets today.

Most homes also have space for boats

in the same way which modern homes

have parking spots, garages & driveways.

Markets float.

They are meeting points near major piers

where dozens & dozens of boats collect.

Each boat is an independent shop

with fish or vegetables, sweets or noodles

baskets & dishes, fabrics & tools, & more

This play has two stage settings:

1. classic Siamese teak houses, set on the water

2. a Buddhist temple

* * *

the Characters

Mae Nak – literally: Miss Nak (แม่ นาก )

Mack – her husband, whom she calls Pee Mack

their Baby Son

Mack’s Best Friend

Neighbor 1

Neighbor 2

Neighbor 3

a Reclusive Neighbor

the Abbot

Monk 1

Monk 2

Monk 3

Monk 4

Hluang Pau Toh

* * *

a SCENE] … in which we meet Mae Nak & Mack

Mae Nak is very very beautiful.

She is even the most beautiful girl

in the entire village.

She is dressed Siamese traditional; in bright silks & gold.

She is bare-shouldered, with her hair up.

She stands on the front porch of her house

which rests on stilts; rising up out of the river.

…

MAE NAK

My name is Mae Nak. (pronounced knock)

which means Miss Nak

& is very formal

so just Nak, is fine.

I live on the banks of the Phra Khanong

— it is a major river in the area

& mine is a large village; quite cosmopolitan.

My father is the Tambon, the village leader

perhaps like the mayor. He is known as Khun Si.

And my husband (She folds her hands; in delight.)

is the most handsome man

in all the world.

His name is Mack.

And because he is older than me

& I look up to him

as the head of our family

I call him Pee Mack.

It